[kwlug-disc] New Linux PC Build Advice

[Chris Irwin]

On Thu, Oct 26, 2023, at 11:00, Jason wrote:
> Thanks, but there is way more historical data on the US site, even if
> it's annoying to do the currency conversion.
> Unless I'm missing something?
> 
> CCC Canada:  https://3cmls.co/CA/B0CG6BPJ81
> CCC USA:  https://3cmls.co/US/B0BTZB7F88

I think the issue in this example isn't that CCC has different history measurements for canada/us, but that amazon canada doesn't sell the 7800X3D, and there is thus no history for it. (There's just a third party retailer on Amazon, not Amazon itself).

Compare with the 7900X3D, which is actually sold by amazon. You'll note it has similar history to the US site:

* Can: https://ca.camelcamelcamel.com/product/B0BTRRNK7T?context=search
* US: https://camelcamelcamel.com/product/B0BTRRNK7T?context=search

While I use CCC as well, my gripe with it is that it is amazon-specific. There isn't really a great multi-site alternative for *everything* amazon sells (I find shopbot to be inaccurate more often than not, unfortunately).

That said, for PC hardware specifically, pcpartpicker (if you change to the Canadian locale) will compare prices between Canadian vendors (or at least Canadian subsidiaries), including historical graphs: Memex, newegg canada, etc. It also supports sending email alerts, like CCC.

https://ca.pcpartpicker.com/product/3hyH99/amd-ryzen-7-7800x3d-42-ghz-8-core-processor-100-100000910wof


On another topic from elsewhere in this discussion: Cooling.

I don't have experience with the 7000-series, but I have a 5800X3D in a small-form-factor case. You'll want to take special note of cooling, moreso than CPUs I've used in the past.

I had been using the same Noctua NH-U9S cooler for a few years. Granted, thats a much smaller cooler than you picked (90mm vs 140mm). It worked great with Ryzen 1600, 3600, 5600x CPUs. However, when I put my 5800X3D in, the CPU was thermal throttling unless I had the fans set to "airplane takeoff" mode, and even there it was still on the line. I partially resolved the issue with more case fans, but the system was uncomfortably loud. It was amazing how much hotter the CPU ran (apparently there's several X3D-related reasons for that). I eventually switched to a 240mm AIO that works very well, and is near silent (and I was able to remove a few case fans in the process).

Granted, the cooler you've picked is significantly bigger, and you have more case airflow (not SFF). So you'll probably be fine. But I recommend a few stress tests to start, otherwise you'll be troubleshooting weird performance issues (particularly if you're playing games, which I assume you are with an X3D chip).

And finally: Gaming and Wayland.

Some people have issues, and still prefer X11, for gaming specifically. Some people seem to not notice issues. YMMV. For reference, the Steam Deck is still using X11 I believe, although they've implemented a Wayland compositor in the middle to abstract a lot of details (gamescope). They're still driving the actual display with X11 (I haven't seen any news that this has changed). I believe games on Steam Deck are typically [Game] -> [XWayland] -> [Gamescope/Wayland compositor] -> [KWin/X11]. Seems to work for them, and the gamescope middleware provides some *significant* QOL improvements.

FWIW, I've been using Wayland for years and am very happy with it. But I don't do a lot of Linux gaming at the moment, though I try to keep up with the related news.

--
*Chris Irwin*

email:   chris at chrisirwin.ca
  web: https://chrisirwin.ca
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